


Rafael Barba and Sonny Carisi Are Youtubers: A Drabble Series

by FreckledSkittles



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cooking, Dating, Dogs, Established Relationship, M/M, Professor Rafael Barba, YouTuber Barisi, Youtuber AU, but he still makes funny vids with his boyfriends, he teaches at fordham im emotional
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:49:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22474393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreckledSkittles/pseuds/FreckledSkittles
Summary: Rafael Barba: skit actor on YouTube with friends, grew from the channel for a teaching gig at a university, now makes videos on the weekend for fun, mostly judges TV shows and film.Sonny Carisi: runs a cooking channel, modernizes old recipes or makes changes to them, a good counter that can enjoy films and TV shows when his boyfriend is too critical.They make videos. A good chunk of them are dumb, but some of them are clever and actually interesting. All of them are proof that they are perfect for one another and utterly into each other like the weenies they are.Inspired by YouTubers Jenna Marbles and Julien Solomita, and Pretty Much It.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 18
Kudos: 41





	1. We're Moving In Together

**Author's Note:**

> I got bored and now this is here I have no explanation
> 
> This will have multiple chapters as it goes along just for fun and because I have other things that I NEED to focus on so here we go Barisi makes youtube videos and have two dogs and a cat because they are big weenies
> 
> Expect cameos from the squad™ please
> 
> Note: this is formatted differently from fics I write since it's about videos, so imagine that this is the video and the italics are things that happen but are not in the "final edit" of the video because that's not how videos work or whatever idk I'm not a youtuber (right now lmaooooo)

_ “Is the camera rolling?” _

_ Rafael nods and shifts over so Sonny can be visible in the shot. Behind them, Rafael’s dog Charlie and Sonny’s cat Ceres are splayed out on the back of the couch behind them. The lighting is good, the angle is perfect, and the man behind him is the type of company Rafael thought was only possible in dreams. “Do you want to do the intro?” _

_ “Sure!” _

“Hey, everyone, how’s it going?” Sonny starts with a bright grin. Rafael tries to hold his own expression back but can’t help but smile and sidle up closer to him. “This is a really delayed video, but we’ve had to make a really delayed decision.”

“You probably know us from our separate projects,” Rafael says, contributing perfectly to the end of Sonny’s sentence, “or from the multitude of other videos we did with people who make better content than us. But that’s—” Sonny starts laughing, and Rafael turns his head so that he hides the sound in his boyfriend’s shoulder. “But that’s not the point. We’ve been dating for, how long now, four years?”

Sonny leans back and glances at the ceiling. As he does, Rafael’s other dog, Wilson, pads over and rests his head in his lap for a silent plea for pats. Sonny rubs his head and hums. “I think we’ve known each other for five, but we’ve been dating for four years.”

“So a reasonable time for two people to be together romantically.”

“Sure.”

“Well,” Rafael turns back to the camera, “good enough for me.”

_ The video is momentarily paused when Sonny layers his cheek and neck with kisses. Rafael smiles and lets himself melt into the shows of affection. _

“If you already read the title, then you’ll know that we’re moving in together. And by ‘moving in together,’ I mean we already did it.”

“We did?” Sonny gasps, making Rafael laugh abruptly. “When?”

_ “I’m trying to make a serious video,” Rafael sighs. “And you wanted to make this video in the first place!” _

_ “I forgot!” Sonny protests, following Rafael’s dramatic flop against the couch, startling both of their pets resting on the back of the couch. _

“We have a place of our own now,” Rafael continues, Ceres sprawled in his lap and Charlie standing between them. Their open-plan brownstone had been a good compromise for a location that was more than dog-friendly. Rafael pushed for open space; Sonny was biased for good appliances. “It’s been something both of us have wanted to do for a while and the perfect opportunity showed up for us earlier in the week. And now that my dogs have adjusted, his cat has adjusted, and we’re all packed away, we agreed it was a good time to give an update.”

Sonny smiles at him. Rafael forgets the immediate area, the video they were making, almost their location entirely, if only because of those shining blue eyes.

“So here we are. Two boyfriends.”

“You should meet mine,” Sonny teases; Rafael rolls his eyes. “He’s got a nice butt.”

Rafael sighs. “This is what regret feels like, huh?” Sonny laughs and kisses his cheek for an apology. “Well, at the very least, this’ll be my video for the week, since I have classes starting next week and I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“The price of being a Fordham instructor.”

“Professor.”

“I have a few more years before I can get there,  _ cariño _ .”

“Well, you’re a professor to me.”

Rafael hums quietly and holds his cheek so he can kiss him.  _ “And that’s exactly one of the reasons why I love you.” _

_ Sonny can’t help but chuckle at that, his eyes crinkling. “Well, if that’s all it takes, we should have moved in years ago.” _

_ “I’ll take note of that.” _ Rafael grabs a glass of wine from the coffee table and holds it up; Sonny mimics him. “Here’s to the rest of our lives.”

“To the rest of our lives.” They clink their glasses together, more than happy to share smiles with each other.


	2. making a pizza upside down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Video description: time to break in the new kitchen by disgracing my italian heritage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what's going on with me suddenly but I'm posting/updating two fics today??? Quick, get BBC on the horn because I don't know what the hell is going on 
> 
> Note: this is formatted differently from fics I write since it's about videos, so imagine that this is the video and the italics are things that happen but are not in the "final edit" of the video because that's not how videos work or whatever idk I'm not a youtuber (right now lmaooooo)

Sonny, dressed in his favorite mint green apron and holding Charlie, sways back and forth in front of his and Rafael’s island counters. “You ready to make a big mistake, Charlie Boy? Wanna make the Internet mad at me again?”

Charlie kisses his face, and Sonny sets him back on the ground with a laugh before standing up again.

“Well, Raf is officially back in school, so it’s time for me to try and destroy our kitchen. Only this time,” he points a pizza cutter at the camera, “it’s brand-new, baby, so no more bad luck ovens!”

The pizza cutter nearly flies out of his hands. Sonny scrambles to keep it in between his fingers and grasps harder on the handle.

“We’re making a pizza, which isn’t new, we’ve done it before. Rafael and I made one last year, where I was blindfolded and he bossed me around, which is already how we live our lives. And then before that, we made a gluten-free one for my nieces, because I’m a great uncle who is conscious of their allergies. So for today, of course, I decided that we’re not just making a pizza.” Sonny pulls out a round pan and tosses it in the air, catching it perfectly. “We’re gonna make it upside-down.

“‘But Sonny,’ you might be saying, ‘how do you make a pizza upside-down? That sounds dumb.’ And it does.” He laughs to himself. “It’s supposed to! When have we ever made anything normal on this show? The answer is ‘never,’ and we take pride in that. So let’s get started.

“First off, we’re gonna need a tray to bake it in,” he raises the pan in the air, “something that’s a little deep but not Chicago deep, and then we’re gonna flip it,” he taps on a thin pan behind him, sitting on the counter next to the oven, “in your typical pizza maker. You don’t have to flip it out, you can keep it in there and it’ll probably be just as good, but I want a pizza I can fold and eat, not something I gotta stab. You might as well be making baked ziti.”

_ Sonny gathers the ingredients and puts them, as well as a rolling pin and an electric skillet, on the counter in front of him and the camera. In post, he’ll speed it up and dissolve in the title of the show over it: Cooking Ventures. Underneath the title is the word: Mangia! _

“So we’re gonna make a nice veggie pizza.” Sonny sets aside the toppings from the pizza dough and jar of sauce. “We aren’t vegetarians, by a long shot, but Raf’s favorite pizza is veggie with exactly three toppings, so we’re gonna make it for him so he can come home to a relaxing household and no barking dogs. Right, Charlie?”

_ Charlie raises his head at his name but lays back down with a deep sigh as if the motion had been a great hassle. Sonny laughs at his reaction. _

“And just in case you’re baking along, make sure your dough has time to prove and rise, otherwise it’ll be shit and flat. Like…” He pauses, eyes the skillet while he drags it over, and starts giggling. “Like baked ziti.

“So, first step of upside-down pizza is to get your toppings ready. ‘Why the toppings?’ Because it’s upside-down pizza and we’re gonna make it upside-down, of course.” He plugs in the electric skillet and sets it to the setting he needs. “For our veggies, we’re using green bell peppers, mushrooms, and some onions. You can add whatever you want and cook them how you like, but for my recipe, I’m gonna cook them separately so that they cook right and so we can add them to our pan in a nice pattern.”

_ Sonny provides different shots of the veggies sautéing in the pan, stirring them slowly every now and then. The music will be edited in later: slow and soft jazz that reminds him of the records Rafael always plays. When it’s only him in the kitchen, he likes the silence so he can focus, but Rafael and his habit of singing in the kitchen always prevailed for the days it was a two-man show. _

Charlie whines from out of shot; Sonny laughs and looks over at the Scottish terrier. “Does it smell good, sweet boy? I can only give you a little bit of cheese if you want.”

Sonny finishes the mushrooms and turns off the skillet. “Now that we made our veggies all nice, we’re gonna arrange them nicely. Make sure to sprinkle some cheese now and then. I’m using shredded Romano right now.” He won’t need to worry about sticking, since he’s using a non-stick pan, but he slides a bit of oil over it just in case and arranges the veggies, putting the bell peppers on the deep round pan first, and sprinkles the cheese around. “Raf doesn’t like it when the veggies are crammed onto the pizza, and I don’t either, because sometimes the flavors can get lost, so we’re gonna be really careful with how we sort these toppings out. Especially because we’re not gonna see them until they’re done cooking, which, I dunno about you guys, but that’s pretty exciting for me.”

Satisfied with his work, he sprinkles the mushrooms on next. “I mean, pizza is pizza because of what you put on top of the dough. But we’re not putting anything on this dough except for love and a bit of egg to get a golden glow.” The onions slide on, curving beside the veggies, and Sonny gasps. “That looks so good, Jesus Christ.”

Sonny puts the skillet aside and sprinkles some cheese over the toppings. “Bit of shredded parm, some provolone.” He can’t help but chuckle as he spreads the cheese out; “This feels so weird. God, this is weird!”

The whines from Charlie are too loud to ignore now; Sonny pulls out a handful of shredded cheese and delicately places it on the floor. “There ya go. Don’t tell your dad.” Wilson pads over, smiling for his request, and Sonny refuses to disappoint.

“So for cheese, we’re using a few different kinds. I personally like a few, but what’s great about a recipe like this is that you can add or take away whatever you want. And everything will be in the description,” he adds with a smile, “don’t worry. Ah, so for today’s pie, our main star is some shredded mutz—that’s mozzarella for all you non-Italians—sprinkles of Parmesan,” he dabbles the cheese on the toppings and then tosses a few slices on it, “some provolone, and Romano for the veggies.”

_ Sonny tries a few slices of provolone to make sure they aren’t poisonous for the pizza. Thankfully, they pass the test. _

“Next,” Sonny says past a mouthful of cheese, “we’re gonna put the sauce over it. Now, I’ve made this sauce before, of course, but this time, it’s made from tomato  _ paste _ and not crushed tomatoes. The difference,” he pulls the jar of sauce over from the other side of the counter and opens it, “is that the paste is thicker and stickier, so you can put it where you want, however you like. If you used sauce, it would just seep into the dough and make it soggy.” He takes a frosting spatula and liberally spreads the tomato paste over the cheese. “I premade the sauce to be extra prepared for today, so I’ll link the video with my sauce recipe down below so you can use it. There’s no secret ingredient or anything, but there is a secret technique that I am bound by Carisi law not to reveal to anyone outside of our clan.

“Alright,” Sonny dusts his hands on his apron, “now for the dough.” He clears some space and sprinkles a pinch of flour on the counter before unwrapping the dough. By his feet, Charlie hops on his hind legs for attention. Sonny laughs quietly; “You know you can’t have this, mister!

“We’re gonna roll the dough out,” pressing the rolling pin into the dough, Sonny starts to smooth it out, “like this for the right size. Ooh, this is a good workout.” Sonny gets a bit distracted with the burn that sears through his arms every time he pushes forward, marveling at the motion each time he makes it. Who knew rolling dough could be so satisfying and so beneficial?

Sonny snaps out of it with a shake of his head and straightens up, laughing under his breath.  _ Whoops. _ “Alright, so the dough! Get it to the shape you’re using. If you’re using a round pan like me, you don’t have to do a lotta finagling to get it to be nice and round, but for all you squares out there, you just gotta push at the edges diagonally so that they come out nice and square-like.”

Once he gets it long enough, Sonny drapes the dough carefully over the sauce. He nearly drops it once and almost tears it twice. It’s a wonder he manages to get anything done like this. He tucks the dough in between the mound of ingredients and the pan, delicate and slow, and then washes it with an egg he had cracked specifically for an egg wash. The slightly yellow tint of the crust looks concerning on raw dough but he knows there’s nothing to be concerned over.

“Alright, that looks good. So now, we’re gonna bake this on the top rack at four hundred—” Sonny stares at the stovetop and lets out a long sigh. “I didn’t preheat the oven. Well. It wouldn’t be a good video if I didn’t mess up once.” He sets the oven to the right temperature and picks up Charlie, who wiggles in his arms and laps at the space between them. “Aww, mister man.”  _ He shares nothing but endless kisses to his pup, whispering how happy he is that Charlie and the big golden flopped on the cool tile in the entryway took care of Rafael before they got together. It’s the same spiel Rafael shares with Ceres when she sits in his lap and squints her eyes at him with endless love. _

When the oven is ready, Sonny slides the pizza inside and sets a timer. “Twenty minutes later, we’ll have a nice golden crust that we can flip over.” Ceres hops on the counter, just out of frame except for her bushy tail. Sonny gasps and lunges forward. “Ceres, no!”

_ After about ten minutes of Sonny spinning around the kitchen and trying to keep the animals calm, the front door jostles a bit and Rafael steps in to a chorus of dog barks and a rather large collection of meows from Ceres. Rafael chuckles and greets each pet accordingly—rubs on the head for Wilson and Charlie, a scratch for Ceres—as he makes his way over and stands beside Sonny. He smiles up at him and pecks his cheek. “Hi.” _

_ “Hi,” Sonny beams. “I made upside-down pizza.” _

_ Rafael blinks rapidly, eyes growing wide. “You what?” _

_ “Made upside-down pizza. It’s pizza but I made it upside down.” When he gets no response, Sonny continues; “Y’know, with the toppings on the bottom and then the cheese and the sauce and the crust.” _

_ “…Sonny—” _

_ “No, okay, wait!” Sonny points to the oven door with an excited hop. “Look, it’s working! It’s baking right now!” _

_ Rafael frowns. “Please tell me this isn’t like the inside-out tacos.” _

_ Sonny raises a hand and crosses his heart. “I promise. This has a one hundred percent success rate unless it fails, in which it’ll be a zero percent success rate.” _

_ With a long sigh, Rafael trudges to their bedroom. “Give me two minutes to get settled and I’ll tell you how bad of an idea this is.” _

_ Sonny sticks his tongue out as he is left alone once again and turns to the camera. _ “Alright, so Raf just got home and he has zero faith in me. I have no idea why—”  _ The video of his “inside-out” tacos come to mind, the tortilla soaked from the veggies and meat he had tried to put on, especially with the inability to grab it without touching the fillings. _ “But we’re gonna prove him wrong today.”

“I hope so!” Rafael hollers from the other room. “I want to be impressed this time!” He steps out of the room and stands beside Sonny, pulling him close to his side. “This is a dumb idea.”

“You said as much when you came home,” Sonny sighs, jabbing his side with a finger and wrapping his arms around Rafael’s shoulders. “I think it’s brilliant.”

“Did you at least follow a recipe?”

“Yeah, there were tons! This one seemed like the best one. I made it with bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms.”

“Ah.” Rafael moves back and smirks at him. “I see. It’s for me.”

Sonny shrugs and presses his cheek on top of his head. “It’s your first day back at school. It’s my first day making a cooking video in this kitchen. It seemed perfect to me.”

“So why didn’t you make a normal pizza?”

“I wanted to try something new! And this is totally sporadic.”

“Sonny—”

“You can’t deny that!”

The timer buzzes and Sonny pulls the pizza out. The crust looks impressive, if a bit browner than he thought, but it does have a glow to it that was definitely from the egg wash. Rafael watches him place it gently on the counter in view of the camera.

Sonny gestures to it. “See? Perfect.”

“Right,” Rafael scoffs. “How’re you gonna flip it?”

Sonny grabs a spatula—the larger one, which he dubs as lucky—and slowly presses it under the pizza. He goes as far as he can and, in one fluid motion, flips it over, his free hand helping it transition. He drops it back on the tray to avoid hurting his hand from the heat. Overall, it doesn’t look bad, but the cheese definitely tore off when he flipped it. Some of it is still on the pan; Sonny moves the pizza with the spatula to use another one in order to scrape it off. It’s completely unusable for the aesthetic he wanted, all crumpled up and strung out.

Rafael covers his mouth to stifle a laugh. Sonny just eyes the mushed front with a heavy pout. When he turns to look at his boyfriend, he bursts into laughter as well. “Why’re you laughing?!”

“It’s, um,” Rafael waves his hands in the air, “y’know. It’s flat!”

“It’s pizza! What is it supposed to look like, baked ziti??”

“It looks like a pancake!”

Sonny rolls his eyes and cuts out a piece with the roller just for him. When he puts it down and lifts the slice, Rafael doubles over and laughs even harder. Sonny grins but still makes a disgruntled “what now?”

“Are you not gonna let me try some?”

“You said it was a pancake.”

“I meant it out of love!”

“That’s a bold-faced lie! How could you.”

Sonny cuts up a slice for him, because of course he would, and they pay their pizzas together in a toast before taking their first bites. The flatness definitely seeps through the taste, and the dough could have been better, but the flavor is there and loud. Sonny practically jumps at the taste; Rafael hums deeply and shuts his eyes. “This is good,” Rafael mumbles.

“It’s good,” Sonny parrots. “It’s flat but it’s good!”

“I didn’t think the veggies would survive with the crust and sauce pushing them down, but it works for them.” Rafael takes another bite and sways his hip to bump Sonny’s. “Holy shit. This is delicious.”

“What about upside-down?” Sonny considers the move before doing it; he flips the slice so that the crust is on top and takes a bite. The method of making a pizza upside-down makes more sense this way. And aside from his fingers getting a bit stained from the sauce and cheese, the taste remains the same, but the classification doesn’t. It feels more like a sandwich and less like a pizza.

“What types of cheese did you use?” Rafael asks past another bite.

“My usual. Romano, provolone, parm, and mutz.”

“The Carisi blend. Is it worth eating upside-down?”

Sonny barks out a laugh. “No! It’s like a shitty sandwich where the bottom half of the bread just dropped off. Actually,” Sonny reaches for the pizza cutter, but Rafael slaps his wrist before he can.

“That’s enough experimenting for today. Don’t make the Internet hate you again.”

_ Once again, the inside-out tacos are brought up. Rafael’s disappointment in the whole thing, their friend Nick refusing to eat it, their other friend Mike trying to find something good to say about it. Comments like “how are these tacos” or “never try to rebrand nachos again” still haunt Sonny. He hadn’t realized the disservice he had done to tacos, and Mexican cuisine as a whole, until he watched the video for editing purposes. He’s already accepted that no one will let him live it down. _

Sonny sighs and takes another bite. He turns to the camera as Rafael prepares to cut another slice. “Well,” Sonny says, “that was grand. I would do this again—maybe not with meat, maybe with a different cheese plan. Oh, what if I did layer by layer?”

“Sonny,” Rafael groans.

“Y’know, like make one layer and then put it down, and then another and put them on top one by one?”

“At that point, you may as well be making a sandwich.”

Sonny throws his head back when he whines. “Can you just support me with this?”

“I’m only pointing out the obvious,  _ cariño _ .”

Sonny pouts; Rafael kisses his cheek anyway and chuckles.


End file.
